Forced Offer (17 page)

"Why that's outrageous!" Flora said standing up. "Eventide is so small and hidden away in the backwoods—"

"Sit down," The steel in Berrington's voice told Flora she had better comply so she sat down again, at the edge of the chair.

"Why, pray," she asked, "am I to take up residence at Eventide when my home is here?"

"Because you are no longer welcome at Winterhill," said Berrington in the coldest voice he had ever used in his life.

"No longer welcome! Why? Richard, what makes you turn me out like this?"

"I shall answer in as few words as possible," said Lord Berrington.

"First of all, you poisoned Irene's mind against my wife even before the marriage to the point that she was led to believe I wanted Belinda punished.

"You have worked on her innocent mind with all the vileness that is in your character and which I, blind as I was to it, have not seen in its true light until now. I curse myself that I allowed you to help in her raising and I must bear a lot of the blame for that. You have tried and almost succeeded to make of her an embittered, cruel copy of yourself.

"Thankfully, Irene's true character came out in the end, in time to repair some of the damage she had caused at your prodding.

"Secondly, your criminal neglect of my wife amounted to attempted murder. You left her in a cold room after removing her from the cellar and made certain she had only a thin cover and the hearth was not lit. In her condition that exacerbated her state and put her at death's door.

"You called Dr. Jenner, who is in no condition to treat anything more than mild stomach cramps, and when he suggested you call Dr. Casper, you scoffed at that and declared my wife's illness to be nothing more than a chill. Then when Lord Wilbur sent someone to get me back from London you railed at him for that and for calling Dr. Casper.

"Have I left anything out?" asked Lord Berrington when Flora only stared at him white-faced.

"These are all lies and distortions, Richard," she said with a strident voice, "I have never had anything but Lady Berrington’s interests at heart."

"You are a liar, apart from a would-be murderer," said Berrington, his voice as ice. "I think that you have an unhealthy need to be mistress of this house, and for that you will go to any lengths.

“
I am also aware that when you promised to teach Belinda the running of the house you had the opposite plan in mind. You made her unwelcome—my wife, made unwelcome in her own house by 
you!

"
You conspired with that horrible Lady Lawrence and made her feel ignored and unwanted."

"So did you," said Flora with a smirk.

"Don’t tempt me to modify the allowance I am prepared to give you, for you deserve nothing. I do it only for my brother’s sake. Although I am certain that you would have betrayed even him, had he not died," said Berrington.

"And what is the allowance?" Asked Flora in a shrill voice.

"You have a fair competence from the income at Eventide that became yours at my brother's death. For Harry's sake alone I am prepared to add an adequate allowance, with the condition that you never return to Winterhill for the length of your life, nor try to communicate with me or anyone of my family, except through my solicitor."

"That is so unfair!"

"If you should break the condition," Berrington continued, I shall then cut the quarterly allowance and you will be forced to live on the competence. Is this clear enough?"

"Well?" he asked when she said nothing.

"Yes," she said, her eyes flashing anger as she looked up at him.

"I cannot believe you could do this to your brother's wife," she added.

"Were it not for my brother’s memory," he responded, "I would see that you hung from a gibbet.”

Chapter 17

From the window of his bedroom, Lord Berrington looked down as the two riders, Lord Wilbur and his sister Penny, waited as a third rider came abreast of them and then with hardly a glance toward the house, went off riding together.

Berrington looked on, a grim expression in his face, as he saw his wife disappear with the other two, until they were only specks in the distance.

He remembered the careful plans he had made when he returned to London after leaving Belinda at Winterhill. He had intended that his sham marriage would be the arranged marriage it was. He would resume his life in London, with the usual mistresses, and Belinda would remain in Winterhill. In time, she too would tire of waiting and would form her own liaisons.

He would not mind, he had decided, provided she was discreet.

Beware what you wish
, he now thought.

He realized that Lord Wilbur had a higher claim to her affections than he ever would.

She had emerged from her illness and had recovered quickly after having been close to death. Berrington wondered why it was that he had been so close to her when she lay dying and was unable to achieve that now that she was in health. A reticence in her kept him from coming to her bedroom at night, and even to conversing easily with her. She seemed to withdraw from him when before, in those nights at the inns along the road from London to Winterhill, in the darkness of the room, he had felt her drawn to him.

But he must have imagined it, he thought, for she seemed afraid of him and even his tentative words to her seemed to make her shirk from him even more. He could not go to her at night when he felt he had used her so abominably before. So he left her alone, and saw with a sinking heart that she was drawn more and more to Lord Wilbur.

That evening they attended a party at Lord Wilbur's house in honor of Steven, who had returned from the war a few days before. There were a few dozen guests and some of the couples had begun to dance.

Lord Berrington stood talking with Lord Wilming and now and then glanced at his wife who was in conversation with Penny and Cathy. He nodded now and then to Wilming's talk of the hunt and his eyes flew sharply to Belinda as she began to converse with Lord Wilbur who had now joined the ladies.

Taking advantage of a pause, Berrington excused himself from Wilming and approached the group. But before he had reached them Belinda had stood up to dance with Lord Wilbur.

"Richard," said Cathy in greeting, "I am so glad you were able to come. "We all adore Belinda," she added as she saw Berrington's eyes on his wife. "I am only sorry I was not able to become friends sooner. She is the dearest girl."

"Yes."

"Cathy—uh—would you like to dance?" he asked suddenly.

"Why, yes," Cathy agreed taking his hand.

"Steven's leg wound prevents him from dancing for now," she conversed as she and Lord Berrington danced to the waltz. "But he has been assured by the doctor that in a few months he should be as fit as he ever was. Thankfully, it was not very serious."

"Where is Steve?"

"He went up to see the baby. He is a loving father and a most uncommon one at that. Not many fathers dote so on their babies, I can assure you. The war made him realize how much he was in danger of losing, you know."

Cathy chatted away while Berrington kept a discreet lookout for Belinda.

And as both couples turned, Berrington and Belinda were for a moment facing each other. Their glances locked for a moment and then Belinda dropped looked away.

Berrington asked her to dance next.

Belinda took the hand he extended to her and in a daze walked to the dance floor. As they waited for the music to begin she looked down as she felt his hand at her waist. Then the strands of a waltz filled the air as they began to glide.

Belinda wondered why Lord Berrington had not yet left for London. Surely he was itching to go and waited only for her to be completely well before departing.

But she was already well. It saddened her that very soon she would see the last of him.

She had kept away from him as much as possible, feeling that for the sake of convention he stayed in Winterhill when he must be anxious to be off to join his many friends in London and his—

Belinda could hardly say the word mistress, even in her mind.

"Would you like to go to the terrace?" asked Berrington cutting into her thoughts, for the dance had ended.

"Yes," said Belinda without thinking, and suddenly regretted it. Hadn't she told herself countless times that she should not be selfish, that she should allow him to lead his life without the burden of her presence? And now he had asked her to the terrace where there was no one else around.

He would be forced to converse with her when his question most probably had been a polite suggestion, expecting her to say no.

"No," she said quickly, and added, "the nights are still a little cool, Dr. Casper—Dr. Casper has advised against exposure."

"Very well," said Berrington. He had felt her arm stiffen in his hand.

He let go of her, his mouth a grim line as he recalled how she had laughed when dancing in the arms of Lord Wilbur moments ago. Yet in his presence she seemed impatient, anxious to be away from him.

The ride back to the house was done in silence as Belinda kept her face averted from him. Irene kept up a light chatter, though, as Berrington felt a heavy pall hang over him.

He must go to London for a while, he thought, before he drove himself to insanity. Perhaps in London he would see things in perspective, would think of a way to win Belinda back.

When he informed Belinda of this the next day, he did so in a stilted way unlike himself, for he found himself self-conscious in her presence now, as he became aware of his mounting passion for her.

Belinda saw his planned trip to London as the usual state of things and saw nothing strange about it. No matter that she felt she would die when he left, the best thing she could do for him was to let him live his life however he pleased. She was content with seeing him now and then. She would live for this, in fact. But she would never impose her company on him.

Life at Winterhill was now a thousand times more pleasant without Flora, who, she had been told, had been banished to Eventide.

She and Irene were becoming dear friends, which now made the world of difference.

Irene had begged her forgiveness, sobbing so much that Belinda had had to calm her down and assure her of her forgiveness. She would no longer feel lonely or hated, so she should be generous and allow Lord Berrington, whom she loved more than life, the freedom to live his life free of her.

She was distracted from her deep sadness at Berrington's departure by her mother's arrival for a two-week visit.

Mrs. Presleigh was much relieved to find Belinda even more improved on her second visit, for her first had been only to arrive as Belinda was recovering and spending only two days before returning to her husband who was also ill. Now Mrs. Presleigh concentrated in teaching Belinda the rudimentals of running a great house, at which she was most adept and mother and daughter spent the most pleasurable days they had ever spent together in their lives.

* * * * *

Dr. Casper had finished his examination of Belinda, and with a satisfied exclamation, proceeded to close his medical bag.

"You will be glad to hear that you are now in good health, Lady Berrington," he said, "and that a visit from me will no longer be required.

“
I will advise, though, that you must be extra careful of humid places and of catching a chill, for your lungs will need years to recover fully from the scars of your illness."

"Yes, doctor."

"Lord Berrington is back in London, I hear," he added as Belinda walked with him down the stairs.

"Yes," said Belinda, feeling her whole body tense as it always did when anyone mentioned Lord Berrington. "He has been gone these last three days."

"London in the winter," said the doctor shaking his head. "One must be really fond of London to want to be there in the winter. However, to each his own. I suppose the Little Season gives the few members of the ton who remain there something to do."

"Yes," said Belinda in a dull voice, for the doctor's words brought images to her of Lord Berrington dancing the waltz with a beautiful woman, or of him laughing and drinking the night away in the company of his mistress.

"Doctor," said Belinda, in an effort to banish these painful thoughts, "I have begun to take charge of the house, with the kind aid of Mrs. Hunter, and I have ridden for an hour or two each day. There is nothing wrong with these activities, so soon after my illness, is there?"

"Oh no, my lady, not at all," exclaimed the doctor, "on the contrary, it will speed your recovery. Of course, you must not over-exert yourself, but regular exercise will help you greatly to recover."

"I would still like to see you again, Dr. Casper, in a few weeks."

"Yes, my lady. Shall we say a month?"

* * * * *

"Why, mum," Bessie said excitedly, "your clothes are starting to be tight on you when before they hung so loose."

"Yes, that is amazing," agreed Belinda, glancing at herself in the mirror.

Five weeks had passed since Berrington had removed to London and life at Winterhill was pleasant and enjoyable.

Irene was now Belinda's constant companion and Lord Wilbur, Penny and his sister-in-law, Cathy, often visited.

"I shall have to have them let out, Bessie," said Belinda, as she felt Bessie's effort at buttoning up one of her cambric frocks.

“
I cannot wear this, it is tight to the point of discomfort."

"I'll take the seams out, my lady," Bessie volunteered quickly. "It was one of my duties at the other house."

Bessie glanced up at the mirror.

"And just see your face, mum, it's filled out. Why, you're practically turning into someone else."

"Why, you're right," agreed Belinda in wonder, for she hardly ever glanced at herself in the mirror and now realized that she had indeed gained weight not only in her body but also in her face.

"This is the strangest thing, and I hadn't even noticed until you mentioned it, Bessie."

"That's because you never look at yourself, my lady."

"Bessie," said Belinda, glancing at her image in the mirror, "you once said you would like to experiment with my hair, remember?"

"Oh, mum, could we? We have a lot of time in our hands today. You would let me untie that braid and work with your hair?"

"Yes, Bessie. Now that I am gaining weight, perhaps a better hairdo would improve my appearance."

"Oh, mum, you’ll see a great difference."

"It's raining so hard there is no chance of going out at all today, in any case," said Belinda, "Irene should be here in a minute."

"She can help me with your hair, mum. She and I have talked about how we could fix it differently if you'd just let us."

"After you're done with my hair I would like you to work on Irene's."

When Irene arrived at Belinda's bedroom, all three spent a pleasant morning in Belinda's rooms. Belinda asked for their luncheon to be brought to them there so they would not interrupt their enjoyable day. The rain pounded in the windows but the room was warm and cozy with the fire.

Bessie had startled Belinda when she brought out the scissors but Bessie had assured her she was adept at cutting hair and Belinda's was too long to be fashionable in it's present length.

"Oh, never fear, my lady, for I shall not cut so much of it. I will cut just enough to make it manageable.

Once she had Belinda’s hair in rag curlers, which she had insisted on over Belinda's assertion that rag curlers would do nothing for her hair, Bessie and Belinda began work on Irene's hair.

"Bessie, bring out your soot boxes," Irene said conspiratorially.

"What's that?" asked Belinda.

"What I told you about some time back, mum. You'll see, my aunt swears by this. It can enhance your eyes. Your eyelashes are long, they just need a bit of help to bring out their beauty."

Belinda acceded, since she could wash it off if it was not to her liking. She glanced in wonder at the little boxes and sat silently as Bessie made her mixture expertly while Irene also looked on.

She sat still at the dresser while Bessie applied the mixture with a sable brush, taking so little at a time that Belinda wondered if it was going to do her any good. And when she was done, which was shortly, Belinda glanced up at the mirror and was startled to see that her eyes, which she had never seen as anything out of the ordinary now stood out in color when before they had seemed merely gray.

The darkened lashes shadowed her eyes and the gray had now green and blue in an attractive slate mixture.

"Why, mum, just look at your eyes!"

"Belinda," Irene said in wonder, "you have lovely eyes!"

"I hardly know my eyes, now," said Belinda.

"Now let me remove the rag curlers," said Bessie happily.